Becoming a Yummick!
This (rather hectic!) last week has been Fresher’s Week at Edinburgh University, and it’s crazy to think that a year has passed since it was my turn to move to Edinburgh and enter a whole new stage in life! It’s been a great year for me in Edinburgh, both climbing and academic/university- wise, and judging by the last week or so I think 2nd year will be just as exciting if not more so - with new friends, a new flat, new subjects and an amazing atmosphere of serious psyche for training and getting strong (and that’s just within the University!)
I returned to Edinburgh last Saturday after spending a week or so in Glasgow recovering from 5 weeks of damp camping in Yorkshire - along with yet more clothes/objects/food and anything else that I thought would come in handy. I had about 5 days of rest in Glasgow to fully recover before coming back to Edinburgh and launching into my training programme. My next big event is the BLCCs at Ratho on the 15th and 16th October - I may even enter the speed competition! I’ll have to hurry up a bit though…
I trained on Sunday at Ratho with the usual suspects - James, Will and anyone that happened to be bouldering too! I also gave young Jodie some belays on her latest lead projects and she seemed to be cruising up them all! After a bit of Beastmakering I returned to my flat and was asked if I wanted to come round to the University’s Mountaineering Club flat - Graham Brown House (GBH), just 5 minutes walk from where I stay. In the last year I didn’t join the club as I had so much on with my junior comps and training, that I thought I wouldn’t be able to make meets or have much time to socialise with everyone. However, I got to know quite a few of the club members throughout the year whilst climbing at Ratho and the Uni wall at The Pleasance. The meets sounded fun, the parties looked awesome and the people seemed friendly, so this year I have decided to “join the club”, as it were!
I went along to GBH and met quite a few new faces, and was inspired by the legendary GBH “woody” which can be seen in the window from the street. It may be a small wall but it’s enough to play about on and do silly things like dynos and one-move wonders - enough to keep a bunch of enthusiastic climbers amused anyway! I committed a crime by trying to guppy a tiny round crimp to get to the next hold- don’t think I stuck it though! The living room is adorned with hundreds of guidebooks, alpine journals and mementos from past trips in the mountains. I learned of all the traditions in the flat and heard stories of the famous “GBH Parties”. At the end of October I may come along and experience one for myself! Surprisingly, I managed to spend almost 7 hours at the flat and left in the early hours of the morning :O
Monday was a quiet day sorting out any admin I still needed to do for Uni and the flat, and Tuesday I had a physio assessment and screening as part of the Edinburgh University Individual Performance Programme. Somehow my ridiculously over-tight hamstrings and knotted back have improved since last year, which is good news! I found out that my left shoulder is “winging” slightly, so that’s one area I will receive help with through physio support at FASIC. Afterwards I had a good session at the University climbing wall at the Pleasance. I had fun climbing with Ryan and Big Tom trying some very funky problems with dynos, mantles and massive rock-overs. One problem kept us amused for over an hour as we tried to dyno for a slopey hold over the lip of the roof traverse - we then realised (thanks to Mehmet) that we could simply get our left foot a bit higher and prevent having to do the awkward (and scary!) lunge and generally stop looking like fools landing SPLAT! on the mats like a sack of spuds! Eventually me and Ryan managed the problem despite numerous failed attempts (caught on video, but I can’t upload them to my computer for some reason). In the evening I helped to set up the Mountaineering Club’s stall at the Fresher’s Fair ready for the following two days. After suspending a tent from a balcony and dangling a stuffed alpinist off the wall we went round the Uni accommodation putting up posters for the club - which was more fun than it sounds! Surrounded by lots of mental Freshers, we encountered some funny scenes near the student halls
Early on Wednesday I arrived at the sports hall to make sure that someone was there if the stall had to be moved (our dangling tent was worryingly near to the fire exit!) We managed to attract lots of interest by dressing up and looking a bit silly but equally cool enough to entice people into the club. Harry wore his winter kit, Ryan wore a harness and chalkbag, and I wore my GB team vest and SUS/BUCS medals (they made me do it!!! ) We had over 100 names by the end of the day so it went pretty well. I left later on to climb at Alien Rock 2 with Kirsten, who was looking in good shape for the Scottish Bouldering Championships next weekend in Aberdeen.
Thursday was a very full-on day - I had my induction for the Performance Sport Programme at the gym from 9am-2:30 pm, then a meeting with my Director of Studies, then a bouldering and beastmaker session at Ratho, and then a Fresher’s preview slideshow for the mountaineering club at 10pm. I received some new Kukri kit for the Programme and had a lunch with some senior people from the University. Then it was on the bus to Ratho to train and give Jonny Field a few belays before he leaves for Sheffield (good luck Jonny!) Back in town it was time to head off to the Pleasance Theatre for the slideshow, I arrived a bit early and met up with others in the bar before watching the slideshow with photos and videos from the last years in the club. I was surprised to see Ioan Doyle - Welsh trad star - and his girlfriend who had come along to the slideshow as Eleanor is an Edinburgh Fresher and keen to join the club Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and returned to the bar for a bit before deciding to head out to a club. We may be able to move well on the wall and rock, but I’m not so sure the same applies to the dancefloor! We had a good time and afterwards had a dyno and lock-off session at GBH until 4am!
The next morning I had lunch with mum in town and then headed to Ratho for yet more bouldering, Beastmaking and campus board power-endurance. I found out that my left arm is considerably stronger than my right at the one-arm stuff now….and that I am getting surprisingly close to being able to do a 1-armer with 6kg assistance (my goal for February) I started off taking about 25 kilos off my weight when I first started this training before Yorkshire….and last night I tried using only 5 kilos thinking it would be impossible but managed to do about 75% on my left and almost 50% on my right. Not sure why this was as I am actually right-handed! This shows how quickly my strength gains are coming, and what is more exciting is that the plan has been made to make the GBH woody into a campus board with a Beastmaker on top! Watch this space….
Tomorrow I am going to Ratho for more strength training - before starting my courses on Monday! Here’s to a great year of training - Edinburgh University are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the BUCS this year, watch out!
P.s. Also, so psyched for Robbie and Alex Barrows - who have both completed the 8b+ tufa “Tom et je ris” in Verdon - good effort!!